Some Random New Things in the New Year

2014 has only just begun and it already feels like a whirlwind! Goodness, sometimes life can really get in the way. :) Anyway, just a few random updates here with no particular threading holding everything together.

fantastic foraging foot toys!

not the greatest photo, but lola working on her almond

First up, Lola has brand new all-time favorite foot toys! The wonderful Kris Porter of Parrot Enrichment designed some amazing and enticing foot toys, exclusive to Things for Wings. They are awesome! They are perfect for a smaller in shell almond (I usually buy Lola these chunky big kahuna ones because they are much more challenging, but these holes are only 3/4″ I believe, so only smaller ones will fit). I lodged a few inside the foraging holes and let her work away. They drive her nuts because she can’t get the almond out without actually breaking into the wood. It’s one of the few foraging toys that combines both visibility of the treat but also more of a challenge. I have trouble with increasing the difficulty rate of a lot of Lola’s foraging because for her, once it’s out of sight, it’s out of mind. But these give her visual confirmation of a reward, and also make her work much harder for it than a lot of my more simple foraging toys.

lola’s sunflower basket

On the topic of Things for Wings, we’ve gotten two awesome packages from them in the past month or two, but keep forgetting to take photos. I did snap one of her gorgeous Sunflower Basket, which is both a toy and a forager and a perching area all in one! I’m wondering if it will fit in her cage. I’m planning on rearranging the whole cage soon, though, and will definitely be adding a lot of our new perches (like the Fantastic Foraging Perch or the chunky willow bark foraging perch!) so I will have photos soon. Sabrina also got some cute little toys.

nautical goodies from oliver’s garden

What’s that? More toys? Well, I couldn’t resist placing an order with Oliver’s Garden before they shut down for new year renovations. This one was just a small one but we got some awesome goodies– Lola’s beloved crabby toy, an awesome new lobster toy that has stainless steel hardware to be side-mounted, as well as an awesome hitching post perch for Sabrina and a tiny maple candy toy too. To fit in with Sabrina’s all natural oasis, I switched out the colorful beads below the perches with some natural ones, but it still looks gorgeous. I’m thinking of using it as a foraging platform for her and putting some natural materials in it and maybe some sprinkles of seed or crumplets for her to pick at. I love that she will be able to perch on the small, natural wood perches on the side.

veggies and more!

In other news, here’s a photo of a big batch of mixed veggies I made the other day. It had a mix of fresh and dry ingredients: sweet pea shoots, broccoli, kale, bok choy, watercress, coconut, pomegranate, red peppers, carrots, mulberries, mango, goji berries, figs, laver (seaweed), corn, peas, sesame seed, dandelion, and alfalfa. I think that’s everything. For some reason it was still very wet and my attempt to freeze it didn’t pan out well but I’ll keep trying.